


Whispers

by Misanagi



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Torture, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-09
Updated: 2014-05-09
Packaged: 2018-01-24 03:54:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1590734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misanagi/pseuds/Misanagi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For an Avenger Kink prompt: Tony repeats his teammates' names while being tortured.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whispers

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/19023.html?thread=43580751#t43580751) at [Avenger Kink](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/). It turned out more introspective than the prompter wanted ^^;; 
> 
> Unbetaed. All mistakes are mine.
> 
> [碎語](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5303756) translated to Chinese by [SeijiShun](http://archiveofourown.org/users/SeijiShun/pseuds/SeijiShun).

“Natasha” is like water. 

Cool and fast, liquid grace and strength. Quiet and still or quick and dangerous. Cool and smooth and with hidden depths. 

Water hurts. 

It's an old hurt. A familiar one. He should be used to it but he's terrified. When he sees the water, still and menacing, he's back in the cave and it's that, more than the burning in his lungs, the choking and coughing, that paralyzes him. 

And when they ask, demand, his throat closes up and the waters swallow him, pressing, freezing. He gasps when they pull him up for air, and the air is sweet and swift and over too soon. 

As he drowns he thinks of air and water and the fire of “Natasha's” hair and she is really like water and the water is still freezing and painful but, somehow, “Natasha” is there. He gasps her name as he drowns again. 

* * *

“Steve” is strength. 

A force to protect, to care, a steady rock to hold on to and cling, even when you fall. Tony has tried to push him, to run full speed at that incredible force that's “Steve” Rogers and he knows that that the impact can hurt. He has also been sheltered by that strength and witnessed how it can protect. 

A blow to his ribs and he hears them crack. It's not the first time he's been hit. But these blows are methodical and clinical and it makes it worse than if it was just rage. Questions and questions and demands and he tries to think of “Steve's” strength. To emulate that force but he's pushed down and he falls. 

He bleeds and tries to hit back, to push back. No super soldier serum for him, no Iron Man suit either. It's just Tony and his stubbornness as he falls. “Steve” would have done better. He would have stood tall and even though his legs wont support him any more Tony grins and bleeds as he speaks “Steve's” name. 

* * *

“Clint” is like a whip. 

Precise, sharp, strong and dangerous. He doesn't miss and he's focus and strength. He never backs down. “Clint” is steady, still for hours until he lashes out. He does so with arrows and with words and he's ruthless when he needs to be, cutting and sharp as a knife. Powerful and impossible to ignore, a power that can also be used to protect and that is even more ruthless then. But “Clint” is also sharp wit and smiles and soft teasing that tickles and sparks. 

Tony's back is shredded. He flinches but is unable to keep the whip from falling again. It bites and tears and there's no protection and no escape. They promise they'll stop if he would just answer their questions. Just talk. 

“Clint” wouldn't talk. “Clint” always holds on. He's the whip, even when he's being beaten. He always fights back. And Tony wants to be that, wants to do that but he isn't sure he can. 

He bites his lip as another lash falls and doesn't let himself scream. He thinks “Clint” would be proud of that. 

* * *

“Bruce” is control. Calm and steady, even when he lets go. “Bruce” and the “Hulk”. Control and power. They are bound together and the stillness of one and the power of the other are always present, always there. Tony wants “Bruce” to understand this, to learn his power but until that happens he studies “Bruce's” control and teaches it to the “Hulk”.

Tony isn't one for control. He keeps himself boundless, free. 

Except now. Except when he's trapped in this tiny box, with his knees pressed to his chest. So hot, sweat and his chin digging on his knee, nose pressed against the wood, can't move, no give, no room, no space, no air... 

He breaks. A couple of times he breaks, but when they ask again he forces the panic and pain down and thinks of “Bruce”, steady like a mountain, and pushes the panic down until he breaks again. 

It's dark and silent and part of him thinks the “Hulk” must feel like this, trapped and crushed and that's why he rages, to get out. The more “Bruce” believes in his power, the wider the box gets and for a second, just for a moment, Tony thinks he can move his legs, that he has a little more space. 

He knows it isn't true. But he hopes. And holds on. If “Bruce” and the “Hulk” can do it, he can hold on. Breathe (calm) and (power) hold on. 

* * *

“Thor” is electricity. It isn't only the lightning but the man. His emotions are true and honest and he doesn't hold back on his loyalties or hurts or loves. He is electric, people gravitate towards him, to the small rush of power of just being next to “Thor” and the excitement to have that power run through them. That power can turn sharp and protective and dangerous but it can also be playful and caring and soft. 

Tony knows electricity. It's one of the reasons he likes “Thor”. Tony has played with electricity and it's the element that gives life to his creations and his heart. He has never feared it and he resents that it's now being used against him. As many burns and shocks as he has given himself, this isn't the fun power he controls in his workshop. 

This electricity burns. 

It rips his body, makes him shiver and covers him with sweat. This electricity is relentless. It won't stop. It isn't the quick lightning summoned by “Thor”. It's pain that when it finally, finally goes away, swiftly starts again. 

He convulses and for long moments loses himself. He comes back to the pain. He tries to think of “Thor”, of a sharp bursts of energy instead of the constant agony. He's not sure he can even speak anymore. 

The name still forms on his lips.

* * *

It's only a whisper. 

They huddle close, next to Tony. 

Tony who has been missing for a week, who is naked and bruised and bleeding on the floor. 

Tony, whose eyes are closed and whose lips keep repeating the same whispered mantra, over and over again. 

“Natasha, Steve, Clint, Bruce, Hulk, Thor, Natasha, Steve, Clint, Bruce, Hulk, Thor, Natasha, Steve, Clint, Bruce, Hulk, Thor...” 

* * *

Days after, sitting by Tony's bedside, Steve says, “I'm sorry we weren't there.” 

Tony doesn't answer until later. Until they are all in the room.

Natasha, curled up at the foot of the bed.

Clint, shamelessly taking most of the pillows for himself, but letting Tony rest his head on his shoulder.

Thor, sitting on a chair by the door, keeping watch. 

Bruce, on an old beanbag, reading a book.

And Steve, still where he's been for hours. 

“You were there,” Tony says, voice still raspy but full of strength. “You came for me, but even before that, you were there.” 

When Tony falls asleep it's with his teammates' names on his lips and with his friends watching over him.


End file.
